{"id":45002,"date":"2025-11-09T11:42:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T19:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45002"},"modified":"2025-11-09T11:42:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T19:42:57","slug":"progressives-tell-dems-thinking-of-capitulating-to-gop-on-shutdown-you-cave-you-lose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/09\/progressives-tell-dems-thinking-of-capitulating-to-gop-on-shutdown-you-cave-you-lose\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressives Tell Dems Thinking of Capitulating to GOP on Shutdown: \u2018You Cave, You Lose\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Sen.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) speaks to reporters in the Senate subway after a vote in the US Capitol on October 21, 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Bill Clark\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cModerate Senate Democrats who are looking for an off-ramp right now are completely missing the moment,\u201d said MoveOn\u2019s political director.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov 06, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Senate Democratic caucus met privately on Thursday to discuss the party\u2019s approach to the ongoing government shutdown following key electoral victories<\/a> earlier this week, progressives<\/a> sent a message to any centrists thinking of breaking ranks: \u201cYou cave, you lose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those were the words of Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-Vt.), who has vocally warned<\/a> Democrats against abandoning their push for an extension of Affordable Care Act<\/a> subsidies as a necessary condition for any deal with the GOP<\/a> to end the shutdown\u2014now the longest in US history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sen.<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sanders Warns Trump Will \u2018Accelerate Movement Toward Authoritarianism\u2019 If Dems Cave<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Chuck<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Nonstarter\u2019: Senate GOP Rejects New Dem Deal to End Government Shutdown<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump claims he is \u2018a dealmaker.\u2019 Well, Mr. President: Let\u2019s make a deal today,\u201d Sanders wrote<\/a> in a social media<\/a> post on Thursday. \u201cStop the doubling of healthcare<\/a> premiums for 20 million Americans. Stop 15 million from losing their healthcare. Immediately reopen the government. What are you waiting for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming a united Republican caucus, the GOP needs the support of at least seven Democratic senators to break the 60-vote filibuster<\/a> in the upper chamber and pass government funding legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus far, Republicans<\/a> have refused to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies as long as the government is shut down, even as people across the country see eye-popping premium hikes<\/a>. Rather than cutting a deal on the ACA tax credits, President Donald Trump<\/a> has pushed Republicans to scrap the filibuster<\/a> to end the shutdown without Democratic support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hill<\/em> reported<\/a> that Thursday\u2019s Senate Democratic caucus meeting was expected to include discussion of a potential deal that would entail a vote on the ACA subsidies \u201cin some form\u201d in exchange for a government funding agreement\u2014though the details are nowhere near finalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also far from clear<\/a> that House Republicans<\/a>, led by Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-La.), would agree to a vote, even if Senate Republicans backed such a compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVoters have sent a resounding message: We want leaders who fight for us, and we want solutions that make life more affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of Democrats\u2019 meeting, Republicans floated a new offer<\/a> that would reportedly entail \u201crehiring federal workers<\/a> who have been laid off during the shutdown as part of a deal to end it,\u201d according to Politico<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That would meet a demand of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), one of the Senate Democrats seen as most likely<\/a> to support a government funding package without an extension of the ACA subsidies. The others include Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Mark Kelly<\/a> (D-Ariz.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cModerate Senate Democrats who are looking for an off-ramp right now are completely missing the moment,\u201d Katie Bethell, political director of the progressive advocacy group MoveOn, told<\/a> the Associated Press<\/em> on Thursday, pointing to the results of this week\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVoters have sent a resounding message: We want leaders who fight for us, and we want solutions that make life more affordable,\u201d said Bethell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polling data<\/a> released Thursday by Groundwork Action and Hart Research Associates shows that a strong plurality of US voters are \u201cmore favorable toward Democrats and the Democratic Party<\/a>\u201d over their decision to make soaring healthcare costs the \u201cmain focus\u201d of their shutdown messaging and demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Action, said the new polling shows that \u201cvoters are fed up with President Trump\u2019s economic policies and want candidates who will fight to lower costs and rein in healthcare prices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith both the message and momentum on their side, now is not the time to back down,\u201d Owens added. \u201cDemocrats must continue their fight to deliver for working families and reverse Trump\u2019s healthcare price hikes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boosting progressives\u2019 case, some Senate Democrats have openly scoffed at the idea of agreeing to a deal to reopen the government in exchange for a mere commitment from the GOP to vote on the enhanced ACA tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year with potentially devastating consequences for millions<\/a> of people across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to the Washington Post<\/a><\/em>, Sen. Ruben Gallego<\/a> (D-Ariz.) said<\/a> the notion that Democrats \u201cshould have some level of trust that they\u2019re going to deal with us and deal with the American people in an equitable way, I think, is just laughable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallego said he would not support legislation to end the shutdown \u201cunless there\u2019s somehow assurances that insurance rate premiums aren\u2019t going to double for 24 million Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) speaks to reporters in the Senate subway after a vote in the US Capitol on October 21, 2025.  (Photo by Bill Clark\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images) \u201cModerate Senate Democrats who are looking for an off-ramp right now are completely missing the moment,\u201d said MoveOn\u2019s political… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45003,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002\/revisions\/45003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}